Stellar pitching, defense give Kentucky baseball a strong shot to win College World Series
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Kentucky baseball in the College World Series
Click below to view more coverage from the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com as the University of Kentucky baseball team competes in the program’s first College World Series.
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Now that they’re in it, the goal is to win it. The Kentucky baseball team is a first-timer where the College World Series club is concerned, but that doesn’t mean Nick Mingione’s Wildcats can’t bring a national championship trophy back from Omaha, Nebraska. Anything’s possible. Especially with this team.
The betting market is a believer. BetMGM has tournament No. 2 seed Kentucky as its third choice (+500) in the eight-team field behind No. 1 seed Tennessee (+250) and No. 3 Texas A&M (+300). Caesars Sportsbook also lists UK as its third choice (+500). FanDuel (+450) agrees.
Plus, the Cats are 5-0 thus far in the tournament, needing the minimum five games to advance through the Lexington Regional and then the Lexington Super Regional.
It starts with pitching. UK’s hurlers have been spectacular, allowing a mere three runs in its last four games. Oregon State’s potent bats managed all of three hits — yes, three — in 18 innings against the Wildcats’ pitching. Beavers batting star Travis Bazzana was 1-for-7. Included was a crucial strikeout by UK reliever Robert Hogan with runners at the corners and the Cats clinging to a 3-2 lead in Sunday’s seventh inning.
Starter Trey Pooser pitched seven innings of one-run baseball in UK’s 6-1 win against Illinois in the regional. He followed with a sparkling seven innings of one-hit, scoreless baseball in the Cats’ 10-0 blowout of Oregon State on Saturday. The performance prompted teammate Ryan Nicholson to label Pooser “one of the best pitchers in the country that nobody knows about.”
Fellow starter Mason Moore isn’t shabby, either. His six shutout innings in a 5-0 regional victory against Indiana State extended his NCAA Tournament scoreless streak to 20 1/3 innings. Moore’s six walks — including four in one inning — led to two Oregon State runs Sunday, but the right-hander did not allow a hit in his 3 1/3 innings. Four Kentucky relievers proceeded to blank the Beavers.
Power bats await in Omaha for sure. No. 10 seed North Carolina State is UK’s CWS opponent on Saturday. The Wolfpack punched their ticket to Charles Schwab Stadium by hitting four home runs in their 8-5 win against Georgia on Monday night. Alec Makarewicz is hitting .380 with 22 homers and 80 RBI. Garrett Pennington is hitting .348 with 18 homers and 65 RBI.
Texas A&M and unseeded Florida fill out UK’s bracket. The Aggies did not play the Wildcats during the regular season. Back in May, Kentucky took two of three from the Gators in Gainesville, winning the opener 12-11 in 10 innings, losing the series’ middle game 10-1 before rebounding with a 7-5 victory in 10 innings in the rubber match.
Texas A&M boasts one of the nation’s best offenses but lost top-10 MLB draft prospect Braden Montgomery to a broken ankle in the first game of its super regional. Florida two-way star Jac Caglianone hit 33 home runs for the second consecutive season. And he is not a Cats fan.
“Just all the nonsense they do,” Caglianone said after the UK series. “I mean it’s all what they’re known for … they’re going to try and get in your head, they’re going to try chanting, doing all that nonsense. The fact that it’s allowed blows my mind.”
Tennessee is the obvious Omaha favorite. The Vols shared the SEC regular-season title with Kentucky — UT did defeat UK in two of three games in their April series at Kentucky Proud Park — and captured the conference tournament. The Vols did lose to Evansville 10-8 in their second-super regional game, but they bounced back to crush the Aces 12-1 in the decider.
ACC teams fill out Tennessee’s side of the bracket. No. 4 seed North Carolina was the ACC’s regular-season champion. No. 8 seed Florida State is making its 24th CWS appearance but has yet to win it all. No. 12 seed Virginia won the title in 2015.
Kentucky can win it all this year. It has the pitching and an airtight defense. That combination is a good place to start. The Cats are also 16-5 on the road. Omaha shouldn’t be intimidating. Yes, they are first-timers but, as this season suggests, anything’s possible.
College World Series
Friday through June 24 at Omaha, Nebraska.
FRIDAY:
Game 1: North Carolina vs. Virginia, 2 p.m. (ESPN).
Game 2: Tennessee vs. Florida State, 7 p.m. (ESPN).
SATURDAY:
Game 3: Kentucky vs. N.C. State, 2 p.m. (ESPN).
Game 4: Texas A&M vs. Florida, 7 p.m. (ESPN).
SUNDAY:
Game 5: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 2 p.m. (ESPN).
Game 6: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 7 p.m. (ESPN).
MONDAY:
Game 7: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 2 p.m. (ESPN).
Game 8: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 7 p.m. (ESPN).
This story was originally published June 11, 2024 at 12:36 PM.
